Book Review: Dollar Tree Cookbooks

Ok, so it's confession time... I may have gone to the Dollar Tree today and I may have bought three ridiculously thin cookbooks... but in my defense, they have pictures. 

Gorgeous pictures. 

On every page. 

Honestly, I did look at the recipes themselves before purchasing the books, but to be equally honest, the pictures were a deciding factor. I'm a very visual person, and to be able to see a picture of what a recipe makes really does help.

Well played, Dollar Tree... well played.

Anyway, these three little cookbooks really did have a number of delicious- sounding recipes I am excited to try. The books on salads and smoothies are probably going to be the most helpful; Any way I can motivate myself to actually eat leafy greens is a good thing, and if I can disguise them in a smoothie, then so much the better!

The smoothie book has a good variety of smoothie recipes, ranging from dessert smoothies to breakfast smoothies, to protein smoothies and green smoothies. There are only 11 recipes, but they are diverse enough to make quite a useful little collection.

The appetizer book is probably the least useful to me, but I bought it because, like the other two, it has a good variety of recipes... and it had recipes for Baked Crab Dip and Spinach Artichoke Dip, both of which I greatly enjoy eating, but haven't tried making yet. Later in the summer if we have a good pea harvest, I want to try the Green Pea Hummus recipe. It sounds quite interesting.

Each book also has one of these helpful measurement equivalents pages

As I have mentioned, the third book I purchased contains salad recipes. Like the others, it also has only 11 recipes, but very diverse ones. For example, the book starts out with a Chili Lime Southwest Chicken Salad (reminiscent of the one I love to get at Panera), but also contains a recipe for Fruit Salad, several pasta salad recipes, and a yummy-looking Lentil Salad recipe.

Lots of bang for your buck... and maybe not such a bad impulse purchase after all!

To find these books, you can go to the Dollar Tree website here to find location near you, or you could order online... they only let you buy a case of 36, though...

Oh, and I was reminded as I looked these up on the website --there's also one about grilling.

Glamorgan Sausage Recipe

I made these today, and found them delicious! I must warn you, however, there is no actual sausage in this recipe!

Selsig Sir Forgannwg (Glamorgan Sausages, a traditional Welsh recipe)

2 eggs, separated
1/3 cup grated cheddar
1 T. grated onion
1/2 tsp. mixed herbs (equal amounts of basil, oregano, thyme, and marjoram.)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar or a strong hard cheese
3 cups fresh bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
flour for coating
dry bread crumbs for coating

Mix together cheese, bread crumbs, mustard, herbs, and onion. Season well with salt and pepper. Add well beaten egg yolks, mix thoroughly. Whip egg whites until frothy. With floured hands and board, form into sausage shapes. Roll in egg white then in dry bread crumbs. Fry in oil or pork fat, turning frequently until golden all over, 8 to 10 minutes.

From: Collected Recipes of Bryn Seion Welsh Church

Recipies!

For those of you who like to try new recipies, my brother-in-law has a blog with some delicious recipies. My mom and I recently made the Red Pepper Carrot Soup, which was amazing! It's one of those rare things that is good for you, but tastes good too!

Amazing Chocolate Peanutbutter Fudge...

So, in getting ready for a party I'm having, I decided to make some of my favorite chocolate peanutbutter fudge. It's so easy and quite delicious, so I thought I'd post the recipe:

1 (8 oz.) package of semi-sweet chocolate chips (One package is about two cups)
1 cup of peanutbutter

Melt the chocolate chips, then add the peanutbutter and stir. Pour fudge into a cake pan, or pipe into mini muffin cups for a fancier presentation.

*On a side note, I recently discovered that a simple ziplock-type bag can be used instead of a pastry bag. Just cut off one corner to make the tip the size you need. Having the top of the bag closed keeps it from getting too messy. : )